Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

When I read my notes and attempted to study the background to these amendments, I gave my officials forewarning that, when questioned, I would certainly offer the facility of writing in greater detail to expand on what is relatively clear in meaning but seems incredibly complicated in writing. We do not want to repeal, for example, the 1971 Act. However, we will cover all those issues separately as part of the consolidated Bill, which is due to be announced before the end of this year. The noble Lord asked to whom the amendments would apply, apart from Irish nationals who have ceased to qualify under the EEA regulations. That is the purpose; it is to fill the gap for those Irish nationals. Because I thought that some of the questions on this issue would delve back into the 1981 Act, and because I have had difficulty reading the wonderful website to which the noble Lord referred, I should be grateful if he would allow me to write to him on these matters. However, I should say that the Government resist Amendment 61. In addition to the right of abode of Commonwealth nationals, the amendment would also allow persons with a permanent EEA entitlement to qualify under Section 6(2) and they would therefore benefit from the shorter qualification period. At the same time, the amendment does not extend to persons exercising CTA entitlement. The government amendments recognise the close and special bond between the UK and countries in the CTA and the Commonwealth. It is right that we continue to recognise that special relationship through our nationality legislation, helping to reinforce the unique bond that exists between the United Kingdom and the people of the Commonwealth. However, it is not clear to me why EEA nationals should be given favourable treatment in this regard compared with everyone else and be able to nationalise via the quicker route. EEA nationals already benefit from being able to qualify for permanent residence, with all the advantages that that bestows, after five years in the UK, whereas, under our proposals, everyone else must wait up to 10 years to attain this status. I should again make it clear that EEA nationals in a relationship with a British citizen or a permanent resident are perfectly able to qualify for the shorter time periods that apply to the "family" route. They simply have to choose to obtain leave to enter or remain on the basis of their relationship and qualify under Section 6(2) rather than rely on treaty rights. As such, I do not consider that this is in any way discriminatory against EEA nationals. Our amendments also maintain the current position. At the moment, Irish nationals entering the UK from France do not have a CTA entitlement to re-enter this country. In most cases, however, they will have a right to enter under European law, and that situation will remain unchanged. I hope that the proposals set out in the Government’s amendments commend themselves to the Committee.